Exhaust box or cooker



Sept. 24, 1929. F. D.v CHAPMAN 1,728,926

EXHAUST Box 0R vooxER Filed May 5. 1928 2 sheets-sneu 1 nfs' 0 ATTORNEYS.

Sept; 24, 1929. F. D. CHAPMAN EXHAUST Box oR cooxn AFiled May 5. 1928 2Sheets-Sheet I N V EN TOR.

TORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 24, '1929 tiiurleznSTATES PATENT: voll-"fl FRANKD'.CHAPMAN, or BERLIN, WISCONSIN EXHAUST 150xl 0R cooxER Application filedMay 5, 1928. Serialv No. 275,453;

when the lid is sealed on the can, a vacuum will be created inthe can.This is ofv great advantagefrom many points of view.

In a canning plant, which is arranged for y canning various kinds oflfood as well as canning dilferent sizes of cans of the same food, it isof considerable advantage, as the equipment for doing this work isalready arranged, `to subject the cans to various heating or cook- I ingperiods.

It is one of the objects of the present invention -to provide an exhaustbox or cooker which will accomplish the before mentioned f cooker fromthe inlet opening to the outlet features of advantage in a very4simplemanner. f 'Y `vide an exhaust box or cooker having a plurality ofdisks connected together in a manner-to permit cooking food in open cansand variable as to time of cook.

"A further obj ect of the invention is to provide van exhaust box orcooker having disk means for giving the open cans of food a prefdetermined movement through the box or opening or any portion of saidmovement.V

` A further object of theinvention is to provideran exhaust box orcooker having disk means arranged to move open cans of food' along oneside portion ofthe box from one end to the other and lthenacross saidend to and returning along the other side portion of the box, and alsohaving means for shunting the cans at intermediate points from one sideof the box to the other. i

A further object of the invention is to proofthe devices for shuntingthe cans from one side of the box tothe other.

A further object of the invention is to provide an exhaust box or cookerwhich is of simple construction, is strongand durable and Ais welladapted for the purpose desired. 3

With the above and other objects in view,

lthe invention `consistsof the improvedV exhaust box and cooker and itsparts and comwbinations as setforth in the claims, `and all equivalentsthereof.

In the accompanying `vdrawings `in which `the same `reference charactersindicate the same partsin all of the views: f

Fig.` 1 is a top view of the improved exhaust box or cooker, the coverbeing removed 'to show the parts therebeneath;

Fig.2 is a'longitudinal sectlonal view thereof, taken on line 2--2'ofFig.,1;;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of one of the disk members and itsbearing and aportion of the frame;` j

. Fig. 4 is a side view on a larger scale, parts being in section, ofone ofthe disk members and `one ofthe `shunting ldevices and Fig. 5 is atop fragmentary view o'one-of the-shunting devices. n. v l 1. f f

- Referring to the drawings,`- the reference numeral 8 indicates anexhaust box ortank of rectangularform, which vis supported by angledlegs 9 connected tothe cornersand cover 10 closes the upper open portionof the tank. yA rectangularvframe 1 1 within the box or tank is provided.with transverse frameA members 12 having depending bearin s 13vconnected thereto. Vertical shafts 14 a justably journaled in saidbearings 13 have geared idisks `15 mounted on their upper ends. Saidgears extend in two parallel 'lines adj acentop- `posite sides of thetank, the disks onthe inner sides of `the parallel lines being staggeredwith relation to theouter lines of dis s and in mesh therewith, asycleanly shown in Fig.'y 1.

At one end of the box.` a `disk gear 15 is journaled which is in meshwith the two inner c disk gears lofthe opposite sides of the box,

A further object of the invention 1s to pro. vide an exhaust box orcooker having a very simple means for controlling the zuiljustments'`sorv thatall ofthe disk gears mentioned .Will be in meshV andformacontinuous train of gears kfrom one side of. theboxto the other.

vmedial portions of the tank. lAremovable A shunt disk gear 16 isjournaled on one of the medial transverse frame members and is in meshwith the opposite side disk gears adjacent thereto, to provide a shuntcan track 5 between the disks of the opposite sides of the box. Similarshunt disk gears indicated by dotted-lines'16 may be Vused if it isdesired to rovide other shunt can tracks.

he box 8 adjacent one side end is provided with an inlet opening 17 andon the opposite side end is provided witha discharge open# ing 18, and afeed disk gear 19. inmesli with an adjacent gear is adapted to feed opencans of food through theinletopening and 15 into the boxl8, while adischarge diskgear :20 inmesh with anadjacent gear 15is ada ted todischarge the cans 21 through the ischarge openingf18 for furtherdisposition.

1 Apinion 22,mounted onjashaft 23 ,in one 20' corner ofthe box, is inmesh with the adjacent diskgear 15 and drives the before-men- .'tionedvchain Vof disk gears. The vertical shaft 23 1on'which the pinion 22'ismounted,

` isjournaled in the same manner as the shafts Q5? `14. A bevel gear 24mounted on `the upper end of the shaft 23 is inmesh with a largery:bevel gear 25' mounted on ahorizontal-shaft y26 which is provided' onits outer end portion with a tight pulley 27 anda loose pulley 28.

30' Said bevel gears and pulley 27 are the means for-driving themachine, the power for the pulleys being derived by belt means (notshown')from.a'distant source of power.

Guide bars 295 extend above and alon ythe T5351adva-ncingportions'ofthedisk gears tol orm *40 accommodate a ysingle line `ofcans when inA 't:upright position, and the rotation of the advancing portions of thedisk gears upon which guideway.

1 45" .The shunting. disk gear 16 isalso provided withrshunt guide bars30 which are connected to and extend from the Gfuidev bars29on one lsideof.I the .box to the similar guide bars 29 on f the otherisideof thebox.v The guide bars29. W Yadjacentfthe shunt VguidebarsBO are formed lwithgates 131 and 32 which may be :swung: 'frtinthe solidline positionsto the dotted line 'positions indicated in Fig. 1 lto. shunt the cansfrom one'v side ofthe box to the other before 'swung to position toclose t e'passageways 33 between 'the'guide bars 29. A crank leverlirO'l and links. 34'.V control the adjustment of the gates. j

n It is to be understood that the dotted line shunt diskgearsinay alsobe: provided with shunt guide bars and gates iff desired. The` '5guidebars areheld in position by angled supclosed Lto retain the water'duringthevcooking porting members 35 which are mounted on the transverse framemembers and extend upwardly and are connected to the guide bars.

The height of the disk gears with relation to each other is adjusted bymeans of set screws 36 which are'threaded through caps 37 mounted on thelower ends of-the bearings 13 and'bearv against the lower end oftheshafts 14. Y. lLock nuts 38 hold the set screws in adjustedposition. Y

'iii-eportions^@faitv4 guide bars 29 which j project from the oppositesides of the box are formed with bottom portions to forni chutes `39 and40 for feeding cans to the box and dis-` y charging cans therefrom.

The' bottom portion ofthe box is provided with an outlet opening 41 fordischarging the water of condensationffroml the box, or in case hotwater is'used, the openingmay be operation.

` Perforated steamI `pipes' 424 extending around the inner sidesofthebox andv central portions thereof, are positioned to spray jets ofsteam into the boxf and around the cans :as the cans are rolled'andadvance between the guide in a zig-zag course from the inlet to theoutlet opening. As the cans rest upon the advancing portions ofthe diskgears, the cans are moved forwardly in a zig-zag mannerv fromoiie endofthe guide to the other. In somekinds of foodwhich does not require asmuch cooking as other kinds, the cans may be shunted across the medialportion of the box. and Awill be subjected to approximately: one-lialfof the cooking period.- -2Further more, disk gears and guide bars may bemounted inthe manner indicated by dotted I cooking periods.

It is-"to be understood ythat the train of fzfthe cans rest, willadvancesaid cans along the geared disks may be arranged invarious waysto provide variable cooking periods without departing invention. l l

.fFroin' the foregoing descriptionit will be seen that an exhaust box orcooker issprofrom the spirit lof the.

.vided which isveryvsiinple .in'constructiom is efficient inv operationand permits variable causare in 'open position. j What I claim as myAinvention is:v

1. An exhaust box or cooker,'coin`pris ing a receptacle having an inletopening and an outlet opening, 'means for lheating the interior thereof,rotary'means and a guide'extending in two spaced linesforn'ioving opencans of foodVV through the receptacle in a cir- Vcuitous path from theinlet Vto the outlet: opening of the receptacle to provide acertain timeperiod for cooking the foodlwithin the openv cans, and other rotarymeans between the two lines operable when desired `for shunting the openlcans from one portion of cooking periods of cansof y'food lv'vhile `thethe line of normal path of travel of the cansk to another portion of theline of normal travel of the cans to shorten the cooking time period ofthe open cans of food.

2. An exhaust box or cooker, comprising a receptacle having an inletopening and an outlet opening, means for heating the interior thereof,spaced lines of rotary disks for moving open cans of food through thereeeptacle from the inlet to the outlet opening, means for guiding thecans in a circuitous path from one disk to another in passing throughthe receptacle to provide a certain time period for cooking the foodwithin the open cans, and other rotary disks and guide means interposedin the space between the lines of disks for shunting the cans from. theline of disks on one side of the space to the line ot' disks on theother side to shorten the cooking time period of the open cans of food.

3. An exhaust box, comprising a closed receptacle having an inlet and anoutlet opening, geared disks positioned within the receptacle andextending in two spaced zigzag formation lines from the inlet to theoutletopening, curved guide means positioned above the disks andextending from one end to the other of the train of geared disks forguiding cans on said disks, another disk interposed between the twolines of disks and geared thereto, another guide means positioned abovethe last mentioned disk and connected to the other guide means andhaving gates for deflecting cans from one formation line to the other toshorten the cooking period of the cans of food, and perforated pipeswithin the receptacle and extending along portions of the path of travelof the cans for heating the food within the cans.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature.

FRANK D. CHAPMAN.

